Lite Up 420 Edition
by Midnight Lost
Summary: A revised, more detailed version of Lite Up. Rated T for Teen due to suggestive themes, and strong languageShinjixHarem
1. Chapter 1

-1Lite Up - 4:20 Edition

Chapter 1: Enter Akane!

By: Midnight Lost

**Authors Notes:** Ok, before I begin this, let me establish one thing to everyone. From the first chapter everything for the most part is Out Of Character. If you do not like OOC fics, then read no further. This fic was purely written for humor, in no way do I promote the use of illegal drugs of any kind or under age drinking. With that out of the way, I hope everyone has a good laugh at the OOCness that is about to ensue! Now, to a lot of my older readers who are familiar with the original version of Lite Up, you will notice this one is different in many ways, so don't expect to be reading the same story.

**!!!Warning!!!**

This story contains material that is not suited for younger readers. This fic is rated T for Teen due to strong language, drug use, alcohol, and suggestive themes. Parental guidance is suggested!

It had been a normal day for Shinji Ikari as he sat in the class room, listening to the teacher drone on about life before the Second Impact, and how the teachers once beautiful home was now under water, though the Third Child was hardly paying attention, his thoughts were primarily on his troubles, mainly with his father. The lesson plan hardly ever changed it seemed, the only reason why he even bothered coming to school was to visit with what few friends he had. Though neither Toji nor Kensuke were here today, they wouldn't be back till next week. A few desks behind him, the new transfer student sat, glancing over at the young pilot. She could tell something was bothering him, someone would have had to been blind not to see it. Looking up at the clock she noticed it was almost lunch time, she had decided she would talk to the young pilot then. The only problem that was present was since her transfer here, her clothing style and her carefree attitude had quickly earned her a bad reputation, but she was used to it. She didn't have to wait long for the lunch bell to ring. She watched Shinji has he slowly got up from his seat, grabbing a small paper bag and leave the room. Getting up from her own seat she followed him, hanging back a ways. Seeing his two friends were not at school, Shinji continued to walk off the school grounds, going up to a large tree atop a small hill. Every now and then he would come to this hill, something about it had a serene feel to it as it over looked a part of the city he fought to defend. With a heavy sigh the young pilot sat down and rested his back along the base of the tree. Opening the paper bag he pulled out the leftovers of the dinner he had cooked the previous night.

"Mind if I join you?"

Shinji jumped at the sound of the females voice, at first he feared it was Asuka, but realized the voice was to polite to be her. He turned and looked up at the girl standing beside the tree. She was about his height, maybe a little bit smaller. The first thing he noticed about her was she didn't dress in the normal school uniform, instead she wore a pair of black waist hugger jeans along with a black short sleeved belly shirt. His eyes continued to follow up her body till he got to her face. She had a cute face he had to admit, her long black hair was up in a pony tail.

"Um, sure" he answered a little shy. It was unusual to him to be approached by a random girl, the only females he really associated with was Rei, Asuka, Misato, and Hikari; and on the rare occasion Akagi for sync tests. Receiving her answer the young girl sat down next to him.

"Name's Akane" she introduced herself. "Akane Sato"

"I'm um, Shinji Ikari"

"I know" she laughed.

"oh, uh you do?"

"Of course, you're an Eva pilot, everyone knows who you are." she replied.

"I suppose." he didn't sound to thrilled about the title he had. Digging into his lunch he had brought with him, He noticed that she had nothing with her. "Don't you have a lunch?"

"Me? Nah, I usually don't eat at school" she answered as she leaned back against the tree as well, folding her arms behind her head as she relaxed, looking up at the sky through the branches, the sunlight filtering through the leaves. "So what's bothering you?"

Shinji paused for a moment, swallowing what food he had in his mouth, before leaning back against the tree again. "A lot of things I guess, mainly my father."

"Want to talk about it?"

"I'm not sure if you would understand, my father abandoned me almost ten years ago, and then summons me when he has a use for me, it just isn't fair." Shinji began to spew, becoming angry with every thought of his father.

Akane let out a soft sigh and cast her eyes down to the ground. "Actually I do understand. My mom died during child birth and my father pretty much abandoned me too, only sending money every month so I could take care of myself." Her voice quivered a little as she brought up her painful past. However when she turned back to face Shinji she was smiling "Your lucky you at least get to see your father, even under the most unwanted circumstances."

Shinji looked at her shocked, he wasn't aware that she had such a tragic past, much like himself. "I guess your right."

"So, do you come up this way often?" she asked, wanting to change the subject some. It wouldn't do either of them any good if they continued to bring each other down by bringing up the most hurtful things in their lives.

"Sometimes, it's beautiful up here, and its quiet for when I want to be alone." he replied, looking back over the landscape that held Tokyo 3.

"Oh, so would you rather I leave you to yourself?" she teased him, it was obvious as she spoke.

"No Sato-san, its alright." he laughed.

"Call me Akane."

"What?"

"We're friends now right? So call me Akane; Shinji." she beamed a smile.

Shinji smiled as well. For some reason the young pilot felt comfortable around this girl, she almost reminded him of Misato, only younger. "Alright Akane."

"Good" she said.

The two continued to talk for the remainder of the lunch period, by the time lunch was over Shinji was feeling a lot better about how things were. Akane seemed to really understand what he was going through with his father, and that in itself seemed to take a tremendous weight off his chest, he actually had someone to talk to. They got up from the tree and made their way back to the school, gaining many curious stares from some of the other students wondering what to two had done together alone. Among those students where Hikari and Asuka. Asuka shot a glare over at Shinji which usually meant they were going to have a talk later. Shinji saw this, cringed and let out a sigh. This of course did not go unnoticed.

"Something wrong?" Akane asked.

"Not really, just have a feeling my room mate is going to bitch at me after school" he sighed again, though he was used to it. Asuka was always blaming him when ever some guy was bothering her in some way or another, and of course when he did something she didn't agree with. This scenario fell under the latter.

Akane looked over to whom Shinji was talking about, seeing Asuka glaring at the two, but she just shrugged the german girl off. "Don't worry." she playfully wrapped an arm around Shinjis shoulders. "I got your back" she assured him. Asuka fumed even more at this, stomping into the class room, Hikari only looked concerned as she followed her friend.

For the most part the rest of the school day went without incident except for when Shinji could feel a pair of eyes nearly burning through his back. He was dreading the walk home with his room mate, praying to God that something would intervene and save him from her. The end of class came quickly, far to quickly for the third child. With a heavy sigh he got up from his desk, packed up the books he had and slung his pack over his shoulder. Akane had already left earlier, being called down to the office. With another sigh he left the class room making his way down the corridor until he got outside. Asuka wasn't there yet, maybe he could get lucky and make it home before her.

"There you are!" a female voice said from behind him. He suddenly felt to arms wrap around his neck. It was Akane. "Leaving without me?" she asked, in a playful hurt voice.

Shinji couldn't help but laugh a little "I thought you went to the office." he answered as the two started walking away from the school.

"I did, it was nothing. They told me to go ahead and go home but I decided to wait out here for you." she smiled

"M-me? Why?"

"Because your actually my first friend since I moved here." she said, a slight hint of sadness in her voice as she continued. "I am sure you've heard the reputation around me"

Shinji had heard of the reputations, but he really didn't think he had to worry about it. But after he met her today, he could tell that a lot of what was said about her wasn't true at all. "I guess I didn't really pay much attention to them" which wasn't a complete lie, usually during class when the gossip was floating around he would sit and listen to his SDAT. "Besides you don't seem like a bad person."

The two continued walking until they got about two blocks away when they were stopped by a very loud red head running towards them. It didn't take long for the german girl to catch up to the two.

"Damn it Shinji, why did you leave me behind you idiot!?" she asked furiously., casting a glare at Akane.

"I um just thought you left with Hikari." Shinji fumbled over an excuse, he really didn't want to walk home with his fellow pilot.

"Idiot, you know I was walking home with you, Now lets go" she demanded as she took Shinji by the hand, dragging him along with her. However Asuka was suddenly pulled to a stop as Akane grabbed Shinjis other hand, pulling him away from the red head.

"What the hell are you doing!?" Asuka demanded.

"I'm sorry, Shinji is coming with me." Akane replied, wrapping her arms around Shinjis shoulder. She was mainly doing this to really get under the Second Childs skin, and it was working.

"FINE! Go with her!" Asuka yelled, stomping off towards their apartment. Soon she was out of sight leaving the two by themselves again.

"Um, thanks Akane, but I think you've only prolonged the inevitable." Shinji said with a sigh.

"Well, at least it will be that much longer till it happens" she smiled. Shinji smiled at this as the two began walking away, though Shinji had no idea where they were going. The two eventually made their way towards the middle of the city where there was an assortment of shops. One in particular was an arcade. Akane proceeded to drag Shinji inside with her, insisting that he should have a good time. For the most part he did, well except when Akane beat him in nearly every game they played.

It was nearly nightfall when the two eventually decided to leave the arcade and returning to her apartment, which surprisingly looked a lot like Reis, in face it was in the same neighborhood, just a few buildings over.. Shinji knew it was time for him to get home, he knew he was going to catch hell from Misato for staying out late and not telling her where he was, and still having to deal with Asuka didn't boost his morals any either. But despite that he enjoyed being around Akane.

"Guess I better get home." he announced with a sigh.

"It is getting late isn't it." it was more of a statement rather then a question.

"I had fun tonight Akane," Shinji smiled. "Thank you"

"Hey no problem."

"I'll see you at school tomorrow"

The two said their good byes and parted ways. Shinji took his time walking home, mostly because Akane was on his mind. He never really met a girl like her, she pushed away all of his uncertainties with just her voice, making him feel more confident in himself. Though now his thoughts were on the rumors that floated around her that the other students have said. He found that a lot of it was just misunderstanding, though he knew that would change the other peoples minds. After nearly an hour of walking, he found himself in front of the door. Finding it locked he rummaged through his pocket, pulling out the key. Unlocking the door he walked inside, immediately getting yelled at by Misato.

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?" Misato screamed at him.

"I-I was with a friend." he answered, a little scared. He could see Asuka in the hall way behind Misato smiling. No doubt she had told their guardian some grand story of what happened, making her the victim.

"And you didn't think it was necessary to call me and let me know where you were?" the purple haired woman shot at him.

"I-I'm sorry, its just that I was with Akane and" he never got to finish as Misato cut him off again.

"Whose Akane?"

"She's the girl Shinji was with all day today." Asuka finally put in with an attitude.

"Wait, Shinji was with a girl all evening….BY HIMSELF!" Misatos mood changed from upset to mischievous as she began to think of ways to tease her young ward about his new girlfriend.

"It's not like that Misato, we're just friends." he quickly defended himself. "Besides, she actually understands what its like between me and my father." this last part he spoke with a sad voice, pushing passed the two he went to his room, shutting the door behind him as he lay on his bed. Leaving his two room mates a little stunned at what he said. It caught Asuka off guard even more as an uneasy silence hung between the two, before they eventually separated, retreating to their own rooms.

Morning came, the song birds waking Shinji up, which didn't please him any. He wanted to stay asleep after the dream he was having. Laying in his bed he stared up at the ceiling, waiting for the after effects of his dream wear off before he ventured out of his room, quickly sneaking into the bathroom before his other room mates woke up. He didn't take too long in the bath, course it still wasn't short enough as Asuka had woken up and was already pounding on the door for him to get out already. With a heavy sigh Shinji finished drying off and got dressed before leaving the bathroom to go back into his own room. While Asuka was in the bath he made his escape, being sure to leave her lunch on the counter, he left the apartment, making his way down the street towards the school. Probably for the first time in his life he was excited to go back to school, he couldn't really explain it but he wanted to see Akane again. He then began to ponder if that meant he was attracted to her. Though he began to doubt it would ever come to that.

"Hey, wait up!" he heard a voice call out from behind him, He smiled knowing who it was. Sure enough the owner of the voice caught up to him, wrapping her arms about his neck like she usually did.

"I didn't know you walked this way to school."

"I have no choice really, their doing construction on a lot of the roads down in my area." she explained as the two continued walking on to school. They chatted as they walked the rest of the way. When they reached the school grounds, once again gained many curious stares from the other students. The two shrugged off the stares and entered the class room, each taking their seats.

Asuka came in a few moments later fuming for obvious reasons. She didn't like it when Shinji took off with out here. She glared over at the young pilot who was already in his desk. Shinji shivered some as he felt her eyes on him. Soon the bell rang, signaling the students to take their seats while Hikari did her rise, bow, sit routine. Class repeated the same actions as it did the previous day. Shinji was nearly falling asleep at his desk when a small beep from his desktop caught his attention. He looked around the class for a second to see Akane waving at him with a smile. Turning back to his computer he opened the message that was sent to him. It read;

-Akane- Heya, you wanna go to the old tree again?

Shinji didn't even have to think about it. He quickly typed his reply.

-Shinji- Sure

The two of them continued to message each other until the lunch bell rang, when they got up from their seats, Shinji grabbed his lunch and the two headed out the door, again Asuka glared at the two.

'_Why the hell is he ignoring me?' _she thought angrily to herself. Grabbing her own lunch she joined Hikari. The class rep also looked at the two leaving the room. While she was glad Ikari was being more open to people she didn't trust his new friend, again more so with the rumors that surrounded her. Of course she couldn't really do anything to stop them, they were not doing anything against the rules, and that's what bothered her, she wanted to find any excuse to keep Ikari from hanging around the girl.

Both Shinji and Akane made their way off the school grounds, soon settling down next to the tree. Shinji opened the small paper sack he had, reaching in he pulled out two small plastic boxes that held the remains of the recent dinner he had cooked almost two nights ago. Last night was Misatos turn and he dared not expose Akane to such horror.

"Here." he said as he handed her one of the extra containers.

"I told you I don't eat at school" she laughed, but accepted it anyways.

"I know, but I just don't like eating in front of other people"

"Thank you Shinji."

Akane opened the container, using the fork that was inside she took a small bite of the meal. She quickly noted that Shinji was a very good cook, as much as she had heard the Second Child complain about their guardians horrid cooking.

"This is very good Shinji" she commented as she continued to eat.

"Thank you." he smiled. It wasn't long before the two of them had finished their lunch. Shinji took a glance at his watch, they still had twenty minutes left before lunch was over. Leaning back against the tree he looked up through the branches. Akane did the same, silence hung for a few moments before Akane turned to him.

"So….do you want to kiss me?" she suddenly asked with a laugh.

"WH-WHAT!?" he exclaimed, falling back. Hitting his head on the tree trunk. He sat back up rubbing his head before looking back at her. "Why?"

"Well, this kinda feels like a date you know." she pointed out. Shinji couldn't deny that she did have a very valid point there, they were eating together alone on top of a hill, that had a good view over the landscape; pretty much all that was missing was them kissing, this made Shinji blush at the mere thought of it.

"Isn't it too early for that? I mean we just met yesterday right?" he was a little nervous about the idea, his first kiss wasn't exactly what he had hoped it to be, Asuka had held his nose plugged the entire time so he couldn't breathe.

"What? You don't think I'm attractive?" she teased him.

"N-no..I mean yes you are…" he was stumbling over his own words, this only incited my laughter from Akane.

"You know, your cute when you blush"

"R-really?"

She answered him only by moving closer to him, this caused some alarm in the young boy but he remained where he was, surely this couldn't be a repeat from when Asuka had kissed him. Their faces were only mere centimeters apart as he looked into her brown eyes, though he wanted to kiss her he was still afraid but he weighed his options and decided to take the initiative. He closed the rest of the distance, letting his lips meet hers. She was a little shocked by his sudden assertiveness but wasn't about to complain, Shinji also found that the kiss was far more enjoyable then the one he had shared with Asuka. After about thirty seconds they broke the kiss, both heads were swimming.

"So does this mean we're dating now?" Akane asked with a soft laugh, her question was serious but she disguised it as a joke in her nervousness.

Shinji thought about this for a moment. "Well…I guess, I mean if that's what you want." he began to blush again.

"Sure, lets give it a go, besides your so cute when you blush." she smiled. This caused Shinji to blush even more but he accepted with a nod, it would be nice to have someone who actually had a romantic interest in him. It was at the time the bell rang. The two let out a sigh, Shinji for the most part was curious what was going to happen from there, but reluctantly they both got up, brushing themselves off and made their way to class, by now it wasn't so much as an unusual thing so hardly any of the students returning to class took any notice to the two., as usual though two of them did, both not to pleased as they noticed a slight change in Shinji, he seemed almost embarrassed but at the same time excited, both Asuka and Hikari began to speculate what the possibilities where of what happened between the two.

For the most part, Shinji and Akane pretty much ignored the rest of the lesson as the chatted amongst themselves in the class chat room. Most of their conversation entailed what their hobbies where and what kind of things they liked. While Akanes list seemed to go on and on, Shinji really didn't have much to say. The only things he really did was cook, clean, listen to his SDAT, play his cello and pilot Eva. Before the two even knew it, the final bell rang. Closing down their computers the two grabbed their bags and exited the classroom. Shinji had forgotten all about Asuka until she caught up with the two half way down the block.

"YOU IDIOT! YOU LEFT ME BEHIND AGAIN!" Asuka screamed furiously, raising a hand to hit the young boy, only for it to be stopped by Akane. "YOU AGAIN!" Asuka glared at the other girl, surprisingly Akane didn't flinch under Asukas glare. Asuka pulled her hand away still glaring at the girl before her.

"Come on Shinji, we're leaving" Asuka ordered. "And don't say your going with her, because you have no choice, we have our self defense class at Nerv, so that maybe you could stand up for you scrawny ass" the red head fumed and stomped away, clearly upset.

Shinji let out a sigh. "Damn, I forgot all about that." he commented before looking to Akane "Sorry, but I have to go this time" Seeing Asuka had her back turned to them as she walked away, Shinji took the chance and snuck in another kiss to Akane before following after his fellow pilot. "I'll come by after I am done, if- if that's alright."

"Of course" Akane smiled.

Akane let out a small depressed sigh as Shinji disappeared from view, she had really wanted to spend more time with the young pilot. Slinging her small pack over her shoulder she continued on her way home, her fingers touching her lips, he had been the first boy to have ever kissed her.

Meanwhile; despite having to listen to Asuka rant the entire way to Nerv, Shinji was actually in a good mood, and this annoyed the second child even more. However she didn't get the chance to voice her opinion about it, as soon as the entered the building Shinji quickly left to go to the locker room to change into his cloths. The class itself last for about two hours, as the instructor taught the pilots a series of close combat maneuvers that could be used if they were ever attacked. He also pointed out that these same moves should also be effective against an Angel, seeing that the large monsters were human like, in theory. After the class was done, Shinji didn't wait for Asuka. He was too excited to see Akane again, changing back into his normal cloths he rushed out of the building, waving a goodbye to Misato as he passed her through the halls, leaving the purple haired woman stupefied as to why he was in such a good mood.

It was nearly six in the evening when Shinji arrived at Akanes door. He nervously knocked and waited. A few seconds later he heard Akane call out to come in. Shinji did so and was a little surprised by what he saw. Akane was sitting on her couch, smoking what looked to be a cigarette, but only smaller.

"Um, what are you doing?" Shinji was a little uncertain about what he saw. It took Akane a moment to figure out what he meant, she had forgotten that he didn't know everything about her yet.

"Oh, I smoke this to relax sometimes." As she took another hit off of it, holding it in before releasing it. Shinji could tell it wasn't just a normal cigarette, it had a unique smell, and despite himself, he actually liked the smell. Akane pat the cushion on the couch next to her. Shinji sat down, even more nervous now, being met with something he did not know about that his girlfriend was doing.

"But what is it?" he finally asked.

"Its called marijuana, otherwise more commonly referred to as pot or weed" she explained, then held it out for him to try. Shinji looked at her in question. Curiosity begged him to go for it and try something new, but his logic told him not to.

"But, isn't this you know…illegal?"

"Yeah, but they havnt cracked down on it since the Second Impact, besides it helps takes your mind off things." she persisted.

Shinji reluctantly gave in as he took the small cigarette from her, holding it up to his lips he took a drag from it, filling his lungs with the smoke and holding it in like he'd seen her doing previously. Being his first time he was quickly coming under its effects and he slowly let out the smoke, as he became light headed and over all feeling good. The two continued to pass the joint back and forth until it was gone, Shinji was now feeling very relaxed and at ease. His eyes blood shot. Akane was surprised that he didn't cough much seeing it was his first time smoking the stuff, until Shinji explained it was probably due to the fact he has to breathe in liquid every time he pilots Eva. During their time smoking Akane had moved over closer to Shinji, now laying her head on his shoulder nearly falling asleep. Stretching his arm out a little he looked at his wrist, seeing the time, it was passed ten at night.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed as he shot up from the couch, causing Akane to bolt up as well

"What is it?" she asked

"Misato is going to kill me, I was supposed to be home an hour ago." he explained.

"Oh damn, I'm sor-" she began to apologize but was interrupted as Shinji kissed her.

"Don't worry, I will see you at school tomorrow" he smiled.

"Um, Shinji, tomorrow is Saturday. We don't have school tomorrow." she laughed.

"Will then, I will see you tomorrow." Shinji laughed in embarrassment. "If I'm not grounded" he added as he went to leave.

"Wait, here take this" Akane said as she grabbed a small paper bag from the coffee table, placing it in his hand.

"What is it?" he asked

"it's the same thing we smoked tonight, remember not to get caught. Just because they haven't cracked down on it doesn't mean you can get away with it." she warned with a smile.

"Ok Akane" he said as he placed it in his back pocket, giving her one last kiss good bye before he left.

It only took Shinji twenty minutes to get home, though he was lucky tonight, at least with Misato. She had to work the late shift so he was in the clear with her. However Asuka was a different story. She had stayed up the entire time waiting for him.

"Where the hell have you been?" the red head demanded as soon as he entered the door. Shinji let out an annoyed sigh before answering.

"I was with Akane ok, and we just looked track of time." he paused, seeing his room mate about to open her mouth, he knew what she was about to say, or at least hint towards. "And no, we didn't do anything perverted. You annoy the hell out of me when you say that stupid shit." he snapped at her. This caught her off guard, but at the same time respected him for actually growing some spine to do so. Without saying another word he brushed past her and went into his room, closing the door behind him. Once inside he placed the brown bag Akane had given him in his top dresser drawer under his socks. Starting to come down off his high he laid down on his bed, not bothering to take off his shoes and feel asleep.

To Be Continued…….

Additional Authors Notes: Well theres the new revised version of the first chapter. I know it seemed a little slow and I am sorry, I just wanted to give Akane a bit more of a character development so everyone can relate to her better. Anyways I hope everyone enjoyed it and please be on the look out for Chapter 2.

Disclaimer: In no way do I claim any owner ship over any of the characters from Neon Genesis Evangelion.


	2. Chapter 2

-1Lite Up 4:20 Edition

Chapter 2: Asukas Confessions

by: Midnight Lost

Authors Notes: I do apologize for the delay in this update, re-writing everything was a lot more challenging then I had originally thought it would have been, not to mention a few writers blocks along the way and several detours to make sure it looked good. Also I wanted to try and keep Asuka in her character a little as she explored her feelings towards Shinji, so without any further delay here is Chapter 2!

_"Shinji," Asuka spoke softly, her eyes looking around as she searched her brain for the words to come next. "I.. I love you" she had finally said it, staring into the young boys eyes._

"_Asuka?" Shinji asked in surprise. This was the last thing he had expected to hear coming from her of all people. More so he had expected Rei to say it if anyone else. Suddenly a pair of female arms wrapped around him, starting to pull him away from Asuka._

"_Like Shinji would want a stuck up bitch like you" Akane spat at her. To Asukas horror Shinji laughed and began walking away with Akane. It seemed no matter how fast Asuka tried running after him, he slipped further and further away, forever staying out of her reach_

"_SHINJI! SHINJI! Don't leave me" she cried. Tears forming in her eyes."_

"Shinji, Shinji" Asuka whispered, tears forming in her eyes as she began to wake up from the dream she had been having. Why, why was she having such a dream. She didn't care for that idiot. But, then why did this dream torment her, making her feel like she was loosing apart of herself. Wiping the tears from her eyes she silently cursed herself, she said she was never going to cry again, why did this dream make her cry? This only pushed her to hate the dream even more. The smell of breakfast wafted into her room, filling her senses made her quickly forget about her dream as she rushed to get dressed. This wasn't easily done, she rummaged through her entire closet trying to find something that would catch his eye. All the while cursing at herself out loud. Hearing this her other room mates just dismissed her curses as her typical morning routine. Nearly ten minutes later Asuka came out of her room, wearing her yellow sun dress, the very dress she first met Shinji in. Though Asuka was met with a great upset when she entered the kitchen. She had expected to see a frail boy standing over the stove cooking breakfast, instead she saw her guardian grabbing a plate of food out of the microwave. Misato looked up from the steaming plate of food to her female ward.

"And where are you going all dressed up?" she couldn't help but tease.

Asuka fumed with anger. _'Why the hell wasn't he the one cooking breakfast?'_ she thought angrily ignoring her guardians question as she stormed back into her room to change her cloths again, leaving Misato a little confused by the girls actions. She returned a few minutes later, dressed in her normal weekend cloths.

"So where did that idiot run off to?" the red head asked her guardian.

"I don't know, he made breakfast and left." Misato answered. She thought it unusual for Shinji to run out like that so early in the morning, but at the time had shrugged it off that he was going to meet up with one of his friends from school. For the most part she was right. Shinji had left the apartment to go to Akanes.

He had taken his time walking to her apartment, stopping and gazing at some of the small shop windows, but wasn't looking for anything in particular. It was nearly 10:00am by the time he reached her door. He knocked on the door and waited. He didn't have to wait long as Akane answered the door, though Shinji had not expected to see her in just a towel. Her body was still wet, making Shinji blush profusely. Akane reached out and pulled him inside her apartment, closing the door behind her.

"So um why did you want me to come over so early?" Shinji asked a little unsure.

Akane only smiled in answer as she wrapped her arms about his neck. Stepping up closer to him as she did so. Shinji had a good idea where she was going with this and was struggling with weather or not he was ready for what she had in mind, however his body answered that for him as it responded to her touch. Going off instinct as she pulled him over towards the couch.

"That idiot Shinji!" Asuka spat as she walked the streets of Tokyo 3. Seeing as her original plans had already been scratched she called up Hikari and had agreed to meet her friend at the tram, she half hoped she would run into the Third Child, more so to give him a good hit upside his head for ignoring her. After a half hour of walking she finally reached her destination, Hikari was already waiting for her.

"Good morning Asuka" Hikari greeted her friend with a smile, snapping the red head out of her train of thought. "Shinji's not with you?"

"No, that idiot took off early this morning to HER house." Asuka hissed, as she emphasized the word 'her'.

"He's still hanging out with Akane?"

"Actually, I think they may have started dating." Asuka replied, her voice mixed with anger and sadness. Hikari had noticed the change in her voice but said nothing of it, she had already suspected Asukas feelings for Shinji, but never did anything past mildly trying to get them together, though Asuka was too stubborn to admit her feelings to him, let alone herself.

"So, what are we going to do today?" Hikari asked, trying to shift the topic into another direction. Her plan worked, Asuka began to think of the immediate problem ahead of them.

"Well, lets start out at the mall, and then we can…." Asuka continued to plan out the pairs day. After nearly two hours of wandering around the mall, Asuka had her arms full of bags from various clothing stores. Hikari only had two bags. At this time the two decided to sit down in the food court to get some lunch, before heading back to the apartment. They both settled for noodles from one of the many vendors in the square.

"So, why do you think they started dating?" Hikari finally asked, breaking the awkward silence. She really didn't want to bring it up again, but she knew that it was on her friends mind as well. Asuka chewed slowly before swallowing what was in her mouth. Looking down at the table she took a deep breathe before answering .

"Well, it's obvious, that idiot took off early this morning just to go to her place." She answered, regaining her composure. Hikari sighed some, she had chanced to hope that she would have caught Asuka off guard. With that failed she opted for the more direct approach.

"Asuka, your jealous aren't you." Hikari began, a plan slowly beginning to form in her head. It was no secret she didn't like Akane much, and she didn't want to see Shinji hanging out with her anymore. She began to think she may be able to goad Asuka into stealing Shinji away from Akane.

"WHAT!" Asuka exclaimed, gathering the attention of some of the other patrons at her sudden out burst. "How could I be jealous of that pervert. I would…." she was cut off.

"Asuka, stop. Its written all over your face." Hikari pointed out, causing Asuka to snap her mouth shut.

"Alright, I guess I do like him a little. After all he has saved my life a few times so I suppose he's not totally useless." Asuka said, however still holding up her own defenses. She didn't want to openly admit that she was in love with him. She didn't know why, but she knew it was when he had jumped into the volcano to rescue her.

"So, what are you going to do?" Hikari asked. Asuka looked at her friend in question.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, are you just going to give up on him and let her lead him down a path of destruction?"

Asuka thought for a moment. Hikari did have a point, she had never given up on anything, why should she start now. "I don't know, a more unpredictable Shinji may be amusing." Asuka jested with a small laugh. Though she couldn't help but think how Shinji would be if he were more rebellious. The thought excited her just a little but she didn't let is show.

"ASUKA!"

"Alright, but seriously what can I do? If they are dating and I try and break them up he may hate me for it and it would push the two closer together." Asuka stated.

"Well you could always seduce him." Hikari chuckled.

"HIKARI! I will do no such thing!." Asuka exclaimed.

"Ok, well I guess for starters you should try being nicer to him instead of insulting him all the time."

"Alright, I will give it a try" Asuka relented. "I suppose we should head back to the apartment now, no way am I hauling all these bags around town." she commented as she looked at her watch. Hikari nodded but hid her grin, she knew why Asuka wanted to go back, and it had nothing to do with the bags.

Meanwhile, across Tokyo 3; Shinji and Akane lay next to one another on the couch, catching their breaths as they cuddled into each other. It was no secret what they had done. Shinji laid there in silence at a loss of words of what to say, still living in the memory of what had just happened. Akane was feeling the same. Slowly the realization came to him as to what time it was. He let out a long drawn out sigh.

"What's wrong Shinji?" Akane asked.

"I gotta go home." he replied sadly, he didn't want to go home, but if he didn't he knew Misato would have everyone looking for him. "If I don't at least check in Misato will have everyone looking for me, and if they find me here who knows what would happen."

"Your right" she smiled as she looked at him. "Will you be able to come back later?"

"Yeah" he smiled back and leaned in and kissed her one more time before getting up. Scrounging around the floor and putting back on his cloths. Still in a daze he wasn't fully paying attention to the cloths he was putting on until the sound of Akane giggling caused him to return to reality.

"What?"

"Nothing, you just put on my Metallica shirt." she giggled.

"Oh, sorry." he began and started to take off the shirt when Akane stopped him with a kiss on the lips. Breaking the kiss she smiled.

"Keep it, it looks good on you." she stated and proceeded to put on his normal dress shirt, which barely hid her naked body. Shinji only smiled at her before leaning in and kissing her softly before walking towards the door.

"I'll be back later" he turned to her, before disappearing out the door.

Shinji arrived home a few moments after Asuka had, Hikari had already left to return home and to leave Asuka with her own task which included her fellow pilot and room mate. Her bags lay outside her doorway as she rummaged through her closet to find a place to put her newly purchased clothing. Misato had left sometime ago on an important call from the base, regarding some unfinished paper work. Shinji took the opportunity to duck into his own room quickly and shut the door, hoping to avoid getting yelled at. Asuka heard his door shut and let out a soft sigh. She wasn't sure how she was going to approach him.

'_How are you going to do this Asuka Soryu Langly?' _she began to wonder. _'I need to get him to notice me, in a way that he doesn't think I am trying to be mean to him' _

Her thoughts began to wonder into the possible ways should could approach him without attracting their guardians attention as well, this would prove to be a challenge. While their purpled haired guardian may act like a ditz at times, she was sharp to pick up on sudden changes. She had to think of a way to do it subtly, no doubt if the two were to attempt any kind of relationship, the moment Misato got wind of it she would no doubt try to separate them from being room mates.

Asuka was broken from her line of thought when a strange scent wafted into her room. Sniffing curiously at it she began to follow where it was coming from, from Shinjis room. Stopping at his door, she paused a moment, her hand raised to knock on it; deciding weather or not she should knock or just walk in. After several seconds she decided on the later. Reaching down she slid open the door, shocked at what she saw. Shinji was laying back on his bed with what seemed to be a cigarette in his mouth, only smaller. At first it seemed Shinji didn't notice her standing there, until he took a drag from the small cigarette and removed it from his lips.

"What do you want Asuka" he asked cooly, not looking at her.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently, though he had already gotten an idea of what she was talking about.

"Since when did you start smoking cigarettes?" Asuka was both furious and worried at the same time, opting to act out of anger.

"Its not a cigarette"

"Then what the hell is it?"

Shinji paused for a moment, before answering long enough to take another drag, letting the drag have its affect on him. "It's something that calms me down and helps me relax." he finally said. "In other words, it takes all my worries away."

"Baka, that's a lie!" Asuka shouted "How can you say something bad for you is good!"

"If you don't believe me, why don't you try it……or are you to scared to." Shinji taunted her a little. This caught Asuka off guard, she had never known Shinji to challenge her like this. Glancing back and forth at the small cigarette and him, she snatched it out of his hand.

"FINE!" she lifted it up to her lips, letting her pride take over; not one to allow herself to be scarred of anything.

"One more thing Asuka," Shinji smiled, "you have to hold it in before exhaling to get the full effect."

Asuka paused for a second then inhaled as deeply as she could, coughing some as she struggled to hold it in. The lack of oxygen to her brain began to make her light headed as she finally released it slowly. Sitting down as she did so. She couldn't help but to admit that he was right, she felt great right now as if she didn't care about anything. As she handed it back to Shinji she began to weigh her options, if she should confess her feelings towards Shinji now, though she began acting on it before she had finished thinking about it.

"Shinji, ther….there is something I want to tell you" she began, slowly crawling towards him as she gazed up at him. Shinji couldn't help but think how sexy it looked "I know you and Akane are….but I need to tell you that. I…I love you" she looked down afraid of what may happen next.

Shinji remained silent for a moment, needless to say this sudden confession had caught him off guard. He had always assumed that she hated him as she was always insulting him and calling him a pervert and such. He was about to reply to her confession when the apartment door slammed shut, causing the two to panic some. Shinji jumped up and discarded the joint out the window and grabbed a can of air freshener giving the room a quick spray as Misato poked her head into the room.

"Shinji, I need you to stay close to Asuka tonight until your new cell phone arrives tomorrow." she told him. Shinji had almost forgotten that in a fit of rage Asuka had smashed his cell phone. This memory also caused Asuka to look down at the floor in shame.

"Alright Misato" Shinji quickly answered.

"Um, what were you two doing?" Misato got an evil glint in her eyes at the possibilities of teasing her young wards.

"We were talking, is there something so odd about that Misato?" Asuka shot at their guardian.

"I suppose not, just stay close together in case we need to call you" the purple haired woman said as she turned and left the room, gathering an assortment of papers off the kitchen table and heading back out the door. "I am going to be working late again tonight so don't wait up for me" she called out before shutting the door.

"Well, what now?" Asuka asked, almost forgetting that she had just confessed her feelings towards him. Shinji hadn't though. He was beginning to wonder how to explain this to Akane, and now he would have to take Asuka with him when he went to see her in the next few hours. He was about to make a suggestion when the house phone rang. With a groan Shinji pushed himself off his bed and walked into the kitchen.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Hey Shinji, um do you think you can come back over earlier?" the voice on the other end asked shyly. It was Akane.

"Um sure…" he paused for a moment as Asuka entered the kitchen, "But I have to bring Asuka, Misatos orders." he explained.

"That's ok I guess, but she will have to join in with us." Akane teased.

"Alright. See you soon." Shinji said as he hung up the phone and looked over to where Asuka stood at the door way.

"That was Akane, wasn't it?" she knew what the answer was already before she even thought of asking.

"Yes," Shinji paused for a moment "We're going over to her apartment"

"Yeah, well in case you forgotten her and I didn't exactly hit it off" Asuka sneered.

"This time will be different." Shinji assured her as he put on his shoes to leave the apartment. When he finished that he stood up and made his way towards the door. Asuka regaining her senses quickly followed after him. She really didn't want to go to Akanes apartment but she really had no other choice, she wanted to be close to Shinji, and not to mention Misato had ordered them to stay close together in case of another Angel attack. What only seemed like a few seconds to Asuka had been minutes, as she was snapped out of her thoughts by Shinji knocking on a door.

"Coming" a cheery voice called out from behind the door. Seconds later the door opened, exposing Akane, dressed in tight fitting black jeans and a sleeveless black shirt. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail like it always was. "Come on in guys"

Shinji smiled and walked passed her, shyly followed by Asuka. Asuka was already beginning to feel the butterflies in her stomach, avoiding eye contact. She was stopped suddenly as Akane grabbed her arm, not hard, but just enough to get her attention.

"Look, forget about what happened in the past. I don't hold a grudge over small things like that." she smiled. This took a lot of weight of Asukas chest. She had been worried the entire time how her and Akane would get along this evening. She was relieved to know the Akane held no grudge against her. Nodding, Asuka continued into the living room and sat down in a chair beside the couch that Shinji had sat on. Akane shut the door and joined the two.

"So you guys thirsty?" Akane offered.

"Sure." Shinji answered.

Asuka said nothing at first, but piped in with a shy "Yes please." She was still a little uncomfortable being here.

Akane nodded and disappeared into the kitchen for a moment, returning with three brown bottles, handing one to Shinji and one to Asuka before taking her seat in a chair on the other side of the couch.

Shinji glanced at the two girls. He had to talk to Akane about what Asuka had confessed to him but he was unsure how to approach the situation. Opening the brown bottle he took a drink of the liquid inside, making a slight face, not being used to the taste of American beer. Asuka followed suit, but without the face. She had drunk beer before in Germany while she attended college. There was an awkward silence that hung over the three for a few moments until Akane spoke up.

"You two seem you got something on your mind, want to share it?" she offered as she glanced from Asuka to Shinji. This had caused the two to unconsciously blush some.

"Um its nothing its just that…" Shinji began before Asuka jumped in.

"I….I..I'm in love with Shinji." she said as she looked down at the floor. Somehow Akane had tore down her wall she had put up around herself. Taking another big drink of her beer. Beginning to get a small buzz going on. Shinji looked over to Akane to see what her reaction to this would be.

"Its about time you admitted the truth." Akane smiled. This caught Shinji off guard.

"What?" Asuka looked up.

"I said its about time you admitted the truth, instead of hiding behind that wall of yours. It's been written all over your face." Akane continued.

"I guess, but it's too late now" Asuka sighed depressingly. She knew there was no way Akane would let her have Shinji.

"Why do you think that?" Akane smiled. Shinji at this point was confused about all this. He wasn't sure what Akane had in mind.

"Well because your with him" Asuka pointed out.

"That's true, I wont give him up." Akane paused with a smile. "But that doesn't mean I can't share him." At this time Shinji had just taken another drink, which he had nearly choked on. Asuka was speechless at this as well. This had come as a big surprise to her.

"But.." she didn't get a chance to finish as Akane had gotten up from her chair and pulled her and Shinji into the bedroom, closing the door behind them.

Additional Notes: I know, I left the ending open, which is what I meant to do. Those who have read the originals know about the side story between chapters 2 and 3. This one wasn't as long as I would have hoped but, not really sure what more I could do with it.

Disclaimer: I do not claim any owner ship of the characters of Neon Genesis Evangelion. At no time during the series will these events happen. However Akane Sato is my own creation.


	3. Chapter 3

Lite Up 4:20 Edition

Chapter 3

By: Midnight Lost

DISCLAIMER: In no way, shape or form do I claim any ownership of Neon Genesis Evangelion or its characters. They are property of Gainax and other related affiliates. Furthermore; in writing this fic I do not promote the use of illegal drugs of any kind. This was purely written for humor.

Authors Notes: This chapter really gave me a hard time, in between writing myself into a corner or over all not being completely satisfied with certain parts. But here it is, though I still think I could do better on it; I believe YOU the readers, have waited long enough for this update. So without further delay; here it is…psst Rei gets into the swing of things in this chapter

**!!WARNING!!**

This chapter contains suggestive themes that may not be suitable for younger readers, reader discretion is advised.

The soft, warm sunlight filtered through the curtains of Akanes room, showing the three of them sprawled out over her bed. Anyone could have guessed what had happened the night before as both Akane and Asuka clung to Shinji who lay between the two girls. A soft, repeating beep could be heard very faintly somewhere in the room. It wasn't long before this stirred Asuka awake, it took a few moments for Asuka to realize where the beeping was coming from, it was her cell phone. She had turned it off last night so that it wouldn't, interrupt what was going on. Rummaging through the covers she finally found her cell phone and flipped it open. Her eyes widened. Flashing on the screen was a message clearly stating she had over thirty missed calls. Asuka felt her stomach begin to turn, hoping against all odds that perhaps someone had just dialed the wrong number, many times. Letting out a solemn sigh she checked the number of the last number that had called. When the number flashed she yelped as she had leaned too far back and fell off the bed, dragging the covers off with her; waking both Shinji and Akane.

"What is it Asuka?" Shinji asked groggily.

"Baka, we didn't check in with Misato last night." Asuka retorted, rubbing her head a little from where she landed.

"Didn't you have your cell phone?" he asked.

"yes, but I turned it off when we…." she dropped off as she blushed as images from the previous night flooded into her mind.

Shinji and Akane began to chuckle some as Asuka began to fume at her embarrassment.

"Either way third child we're still in deep shit when we get home, providing Misato hasn't already sent out Section 2 agents to look for us." the red head pointed out.

"Fine fine, we should get going so we don't make matters any worse, we don't need Section 2 breaking down Akanes door." Shinji sighed, attempting to make a small joke of the matter.

The three began to rummage through the room, finding their clothing and putting it on. Shinji and Asuka moved slower then usual, not exactly in any hurry to return home, both having a good idea of what was going to happen; aside from Misato yelling. Nearly twenty minutes had passed before they were all dressed.

"Now Asuka" Akane began. "Remember that we have to share him, so try not to wear him out too much" she laughed.

Asuka looked back and forth between the two with an evil grin on her face. "No promises" she replied.

"We'll try to make it back over if Misato don't kill us" Shinji jested as he reached for the door, cracking it open for him and Asuka to leave.

"THERE THEY ARE!" two men dressed in black shouted.

"Ah shit" Shinji cried, retreating back into the apartment and slamming the door shut, locking it. "Section 2 is after us, um is there a back door out of here?" he asked, not really wanting to be caught.

"Yeah, the fire exit in the kitchen." Akane said as she led the two towards the back. Opening the fire escape door, then peering down between the grated stair casings, checking to make sure that their pursuers hadn't circled around to the back already. Seeing that it was clear she motioned for the two to follow and quickly descended along the escape. Shinji and Asuka were the first to hit the ground. By the time Akane had landed, one of the S2 agents had circled around the complex to cut them off, pinning Akane down to the ground.

"LET ME GO!" she screamed, catching Shinji and Asukas attention. Shinji quickly rushed over to try and pull the agent off of her, but was unsuccessful as he was thrown to the ground as well. Asuka took a second to scan her surroundings, running over she picked up a small chunk of cinderblock and hurled it at the agents head. There was an audible crack as it hit its mark, sending the lone agent to the ground holding his head where blood began to run from where he had been hit. Akane took this opportunity to jump to her feet. Two other agents circled around the building as the children took off running.

"SPLIT UP!" Asuka yelled as she grabbed Shinji, pulling him in her direction.

"Hey, I thought you said split up." Akane teased her, but bolted in another direction, easily clearing a small chain link fence, using trash bin next to a larger concrete wall, she bounded over the top and disappeared.

The remaining two wasted no time to break into a full sprint, putting as much distance between the agents and them so as too lose them. They had ran for nearly ten minutes before the two ducked into an abandoned apartment complex. They waited just inside the door way as the two agents ran in, Asuka grabbed Shinjis hand and ducked back outside, shutting and locking the door. Leaving the two agents trapped inside.

"All right, lets get home before Misato has our heads" Asuka sighed, but smiled in triumph as she had out smarted Section 2.….again.

Rei had watched the events unfold with curiosity. She had heard the commotion when it had started and watched on. She was curious as to why her fellow pilots were running for Section 2, and even more; why were they not at the own residence with their guardian. She had remembered that the Major had called her late last night enquiring about her to wards, though at the time Rei had not known where they were. Her cell phone in hand she proceeded to dial the majors number and recount the events to her. Rei was about to inform her that the two appeared to be heading home but was cut off when Misato had hung up the phone in a rush to get the children. Rei stared at the phone for a moment before closing it and setting it back down on the desk next to her window, watching as her two fellow pilots shrink out of view. She had made a mental note to ask Ikari about the events the next day at school.

Shinji and Asuka were stopped suddenly as a blue car screeched to a halt in front of them. The driver threw open the passenger door and immediately demanded the two get in the car without any questions. The two looked at Misato for a second and could see that they were not going to be able to play this one off so easily, reluctantly they both got into the car. Neither of them were brave enough to sit in the front, so both of them sat in the back seat. None of the three spoke a word on the drive home which seemed to take days rather then the few minutes it actually took. Once they returned to the apartment Misato ordered her young wards to take a seat on the couch, her voice this time was more calm. She had used the drive home to calm her nerves, it wasn't that she was angry with the two but more so worried about them.

"You two want to explain your selves?"

"We.. It was getting late so we spent the night at Akanes…" Shinji began but was cut off.

"I'm not talking about that, I mean why you two attacked a section 2 agent, whose job was to make sure nothing happened to you pilots."

"And is it also their job to attack young children!?" Asuka shot back, recounting the events of how the one agent had attacked Akane

"Section 2 had failed to report that…" Misato lied. Section 2 hadn't called her yet, the only information she was given was from what Rei had told her. "However I can not look past this, you two are grounded this week, as soon as school gets out you come straight home. The only exceptions are during Angel attacks. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes ma'am" the two droned.

"Now, I have to report to Nerv, remember what I said." Misato barked and stormed out of the apartment. Shinji and Asuka waited in silence for a few moments as they heard her speed off. Letting out a long sigh, Asuka picked up the remote and flipped on the tv. After flipping through a few channels she tossed the remote down and stood up, making her way around the couch and into the hall.

"Well, I am going to take a shower, and don't you dare try and peek on me" she teased him with a wink and disappeared into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. Shinji chuckled some and was half tempted to follow her, but picked up the remote instead, last night was enough for him. Browsing through the channel he let it settle on one that was playing older music videos. The one in particular he was watching showed a young man in a red baseball cap, wearing baggy pants and an open shirt. While watching this he got a slight idea and got up and went into his room. He was still in there when Asuka came out of her shower; she was a little disappointed that he had not followed her in.

"Sometimes you are really dense Third Child." Asuka huffed from his doorway, still only wrapped in a towel.

"No, I knew what you wanted." Shinji smirked as he turned around, his clothing now mirroring that which was on the music video. The only exception was he didn't have the baseball cap; though Asuka wasn't about to argue with how much more attractive it made him to her. "I am still worn out from last night."

"Is that so Third Child?" she asked as she approached him, allowing her towel to drop slightly as she leaned over, giving him a good shot all the way down. Of course she did this on purpose to tease the poor boy. Pushing him back towards his bed. As she pushed him back he tripped over the foot of his bed; in a last ditch attempt to hold his balance he reached out and ended up grabbing Asukas towel, put only succeeded in pulling her down on top of him and pulling the towel off of her, causing them both to blush furiously.

"I knew you couldn't resist me" she chuckled, leaning down and kissing him deeply. This mood was short lived however as Misato had returned from the officer earlier then the two had anticipated. Asuka gathered her towel and ducked into her own room, slamming the door shut just before Misato turned into the hall way.

"Where's Asuka?" Misato asked Shinji. If she wasn't too busy looking down a sheet of paper she would have noticed the change in Shinjis attire.

"She's in her room" Shinji answered as he began to take off his shirt to change into his normal house cloths. Normally he would have been shy to do this around Misato, however the past two days being with his two girlfriends had subtly forced that out of him.

"Well, remind her that there is another test tomorrow after school, so don't be late. You know how Akagi is."

"Yes ma'am"

With that Misato turned stepped into her own room for a moment before turning to leave again.

"I am going out with Kaji tonight, so I wont be back until later this evening. There is food in the freezer if you two get hungry. Remember you are not allowed to leave the apartment unless I say so." she reminded him as she walked out the door.

Shinji let out another sigh and finished getting changed and entered the kitchen, picking up the phone he called Akanes cell, hoping that she was alright. The phone rang a few times before a cheery voice answered.

"Hey Shinji, what happened?"

"Well, we're not allowed to leave the apartment until further notice, so I guess other then school we cant really hang out as much." he informed her.

"That's ok, we can party at your place while your guardian is gone" Akane teased.

"Well, she is going to be out most of the night, and she didn't say anything about not having friends over."

"Ok, you want me to come over?"

"That would be great, I still have some left" he hinted, and she knew exactly what he was talking about.

"Ok, be there in a few"

With that the two hung up the phone. At this time Asuka had joined Shinji, she had over heard the last part of the conversation and was a little disappointed as she was hoping to keep him to herself for tonight. She was about to say something when the phone rang. Shinji answered it and then turned, seeing Asuka there he handed it to her.

"Its Hikari" he informed her.

Taking the phone Asuka began talking to her friend. She paused for a moment when the other had asked about coming over for a few hours tonight. Pondering it, she already knew the Akane was coming over and that having the two of them in the same apartment wouldn't be a good idea, not to mention that Hikari would get in the way of any fun she would have if Akane wanted to start anything with Shinji. Shaking her head as though the class rep could see her through the phone she informed her that tonight wasn't a good night. The two continued to talk until the door bell to the apartment rang, signaling that Akane had arrived. Asuka quickly said good bye to her before the class rep could ask any questions and hung up. It was at that time that Akane had entered the room, holding her book bag, which bulged slightly.

"I'm sorry I got you two in trouble. If ther…." Akane began, but was cut off by Asuka.

"Baka, don't worry about it" Asuka smiled and gave her a playful bonk on the head. "I think it was well worth it, besides we're just allowed to leave the apartment; though knowing Misato she'll forget about our punishment by the end of the night."

The three of them laughed at the last part. Asuka lead Akane into her room so she could put her stuff away, they had decided that Akane would sleep in Asukas room so as not to cause another hysterical fit from Misato of having the three of them sleeping in the same bed. Having done that, they opened the windows and sat down to smoke some before having to turn in for the night. Of course this led to other things, but were once again interrupted by the telephone ringing. With a heavy sigh, Shinji got up from his activities with the two girls and walked into the kitchen to answer the phone. It was Kensuke this time.

Some time later, Shinji finally returned to the living room seeing both Akane and Asuka passed out on each side of the couch.. The otaku had kept him on the phone for nearly half an hour, having to recount practically every detail of his and Kensukes trip to an old American military base, now made into a museum of sorts. With another sigh, he walked into Asuka bed room and grabbed her blanket and two pillows and returned to the living room, tucking a pillow under each of their heads and covering them up. He then proceeded to clean up the mess from before, now that the effects of what they were smoking was slowly leaving his system. Giving the room a quick spray with the air freshener he closed the windows and retired to his own bedroom to sleep the remainder of the evening off. Misato arrived home in the early hours of the morning as the sun slowly began to rise over the city; seeing two dark figures on the couch she cringed a little as she assumed one was Shinji, and was dangerously close to Asuka. Though as she moved closer she saw that the other figure was in fact another young girl, but it wasn't Hikari. This hit Misato of being a little strange, mainly because the only other person she could think of it being was Shinjis friend Akane, but her and Asuka didn't get along from what she had gathered from the other days events of what happened after school. She then remembered that the two were in trouble for staying over at Akanes place, perhaps Akane and Asuka patched things up between them. Seeing that it would be soon time for the children to go to school, the purple haired woman moved over to the couch and woke up Asuka first. This wasn't easy as the red haired girl was stubborn and refused to wake up. Finally with a lot of grumbling she got up off the couch, turning she saw Akane still asleep. Much to Misatos dismay, Asuka reached down and grabbed hold of the blanket the girl was sitting on and pulled; sending Akane crashing to the floor.

"Time to get up." Asuka laughed and stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, thanks; you couldn't send Shinji in to wake me up?" the black haired girl jested, unaware Misato was there watching them.

"I don't think Misato would want to see that."

"Who?" Akane looked over at the other woman standing there and covered her mouth in embarrassment of what she had just suggested. It was obvious by the look on Misatos face that she had caught on to what her previous statement had suggested mildly at. Face still burning red, Akane quickly followed Asuka into her room. By this time Shinji had awoken, stepping out into the hall way dressed in the same fashion he was the previous day., though still without the hat. He made a brief mental note to try and pick on up soon.

"I think I need a beer." Misato commented aloud to herself, retiring to her room, taking an entire six pack with her.

It took the three of them another thirty minutes before they finally headed off towards school. Discussing their plans as they walked. Hikari had bugged Asuka to hang out with her today at school, mainly to see if there were any breakthroughs in what Asuka and her had discussed before things had changed between her and Akane. Seeing it was no secret that Hikari didn't like Akane, Shinji invited her to join him with his two friends which had returned yesterday. When they reached the classroom each took their individual seats. It wasn't long before Touji and Kensuke entered the room, followed closely behind by Hikari. The two stopped to chat with Shinji, joking with him about how he had become a delinquent in their absence; while Hikari stopped to talk with Asuka a moment. Soon after the teacher entered the room, prompting the class rep to lead the class in the stand, bow, sit routine. As the class started, Shinji, Asuka, and Akane each opened up a chat room on their desktops; chatting with each other idly as the class dragged on. Rei watched in curiosity at the three. She could see the change her two fellow pilots, how they seemed closer and more relaxed. What had really surprised her this morning was the clothing the Third Child was wearing. When she saw him, she didn't something unexpected; she blushed.

Class went on for what seemed like years. The teacher continued on with how life was before The Second Impact. Finally it was time for lunch. Asuka kept her promise to Hikari and joined with her, looking back at Akane and Shinji as they two walked out of the room, followed by Touji and Kensuke who didn't seem to thrilled with Akane joining them. Asuka had a bad feeling about this, as she sat down at one of the desks with her friend. 

"I guess they're still together." Hikari commented. Asuka only nodded in response as she ate her lunch, giving a bitter face as the mouthful reminded her who cooked it; Misato. "Though you seem closer to Akane now."

"Yeah, well I had to stick closer to Shinji this weekend, Misatos orders; and of course he was with her all weekend. So I was forced into a truce with her for the time being." Asuka replied, looking out the window. She wanted to divert her gaze a little, so that the class rep wouldn't see that she wasn't telling her the truth.

"I see, so are you still going to try to…you know?"

Asuka had to think about this for a moment, during the past two days she had forgotten about what her and Hikari planned, and now felt guilty about the whole thing. She didn't have to break them up now; because they both were dating him at the same time. It sounded weird, but she actually didn't mind. Besides her and Shinji shared the same apartment together so that gave her an upper hand. "No," she began, quickly continuing before Hikari could say anything more. "As I said, that would only make things worse and would ruin my chances all together."

Meanwhile, Rei remained seated at her desk, altering her attention to The Second Child, and out the window to where the Third Child sat with his friends. She could see that Aida, and Suzahara still were not happy with Shinjis new friend, as the two seemed to keep there distance from her, as she clung onto Shinji. Rei couldn't help but feel jealous. She was well aware of what the emotion was, but at this time she didn't know why their actions were evoking it. She began to ponder if she was attracted to her fellow pilot. She had noted that his appearance today was rather attractive, not that he wasn't pleasant to look at before. Her cheeks burned again as she blushed at the thoughts. During this time, things seemed to have become derailed between Asuka and Hikari, when Rei looked back to the two she could see that Asuka was fuming and Hikari was shaking her head. Why did the class rep disapprove of Akane? Looking out the window again, similar actions where occurring as well. The First Child could only assume that one of the two "dorks"; as Asuka referred to them; had said something that had upset Shinji and Akane.

"I told you Hikari, I am not going to do it and that's final." Asuka spat, her temper not getting any better as the class rep continued to push that she should try and wedge herself between Shinji and Akane. Asuka was trying to avoid bluntly telling her that both of them were sharing him. For one major reason; Hikari would make a huge scene out of it and it would draw way too much attention. " I don't feel well, I'm going home" Asuka lied as she stood up, grabbing her bag and walking out of the classroom. Rei watched as she left the classroom, then got up; securing her own belongings and followed her. Being sure to keep a safe distance behind her.

Things weren't fairing to well for Shinji and Akane either, as Touji continued to suggest that it was Akane who had made Shinji dress the way he was today, even though the third child denied it, stating he did so on his own accord. Though he was growing severely tired of the jock now. Why didn't anyone approve of his relationship with Akane? It was at this time that the two saw Asuka walking briskly off the campus, turning to each other they shrugged and got up to follow her, not bothering to hear anymore of what Touji had to say, which caught the jock and otaku off guard.

"Yo Shinji where you going?" Touji asked. Shinji paused to turn around, shrugging his shoulders some as he walked backwards next to Akane.

"I decided I don't have to sit and listen to two people who beat off to porno's insult my girlfriend."

The last remark caused an uncomfortable amount of attention focused onto the two boys as Shinji and Akane caught up with Asuka. Rei watched as Kensuke and Touji take off towards the class room to hide from everyone's stares. Shrugging the two off she continued on, watching as the trio disappeared behind a large tree up on the hill just off the school grounds. It took Rei a few minutes before she reached the tree. She could see Asukas leg stretched out. As she approached closer she could smell something she had not smelled before, getting closer she saw the three passing what looked like a cigarette , though she knew it to be something else. It took the three a moment or two before they noticed the blue haired girl watching them. Rei said nothing, but approached closer; she was curious as to what it was the three were smoking. The scent of it was appealing to her. Though she had no idea as to why it attracted her curiosity like it did.

An awkward silence hovered among the four of them before Rei finally spoke up.

"What is that?" she asked, pointing towards the item in Shinji's hand. It took a second before he realized what she was talking about and began to panic. It was Akane who spoke up first.

"Come on, sit down and join us" she smiled, being her cheerful self. Rei was hesitant, but took the invitation, sitting next to Shinji, more so due to lack of space behind the tree. As she sat down; Akane had taken the joint from Shinjis hand and was offering it to Rei. The first child looked at it questioningly, then looked to Asuka and then to Shinji before slowly reaching out and accepting the joint from Akane. She needed no instructions of what to do; having fully observed the others actions before she was invited. Drawing it to her lips she inhaled deeply, mimicking what the other three had done. Holding it in for as long as she could before she started to cough, passing the joint to Shinji next.

"Are you alright Ayanami?" he asked, concerned.

"I am alright Shinji" she replied, unaware that she had called him by his first name rather then his last name like she always had. Shinji didn't seem to notice as he took another drag, however both Asuka and Akane had caught on. Akane leaned over and whispered something into Asukas ear who nodded in reply.

"You like Shinji, don't you Ayanami?" Akane asked bluntly, this caused Shinji to cough violently as the sudden question caught him off guard and caused him to blush profusely .

"I.. that is…" for the first time in her life, Rei didn't know how to respond. She felt embarrassed for being put on the spot so to speak. She looked at Shinji again, course this only caused her to blush; then back to Akane and Asuka. "I do not disagree with his company.." she finally answered, trying to compose herself again. But Akane saw through it.

"That's not what I mean," she began. "I mean, do you like him as if you would like to get intimately involved with him." Akane finished with a smile. This question spawned a hidden fantasy with in Rei that she had hid from everyone; even Commander Ikari.

_Images flooded into her mind of her and Shinji alone in her apartment, his hand caressing along her cheek as he leaned in to kiss her, his other moving along her body pulling her closer to him. Breaking the kiss he moved down her neck. She closed her eyes and gasped in pleasure as his hands worked their way under her shirt, fondling her. Moving back up he looked into her eyes and smiled, the smile she had come to adore. Gently he pushed her back onto the bed, hovering over her; he gently began to remove her clothing. It wasn't long before she followed his lead, taking off his shirt exposing his lean, yet well toned figure; probably from piloting Eva as much as he has. Finally both of them were stripped of their clothing, leaving nothing between them, he leaned in again….._

"Rei, wake up." Akane teased her. Rei shot her head up to look at the girl who called her name, snapping out of her day dream and crashing back into reality; realizing what had happened she blushed again. This was a fantasy she only imagined in private. "Well Asuka, I think we have our answer."

Asuka leaned over as if to examine Rei, giving her a good look up and down. Their faces just inches apart, causing Rei to blush in embarrassment even more, if it were even possible. Asuka then looked over at Shinji who was at a loss of words to say. Akane had taken the join for his fingers as was taking her turn on it before passing it to Asuka. Leaning back into a sitting position, she took her turn and handed it to Rei. This time Rei accepted it quickly, repeating what she had done earlier except this time she didn't cough. Turning she leaned in to hand it to Shinji who at the same time also leaned in, causing the two of them to bump heads. Shinji looked up to apologize, but froze as he met eye contact with Rei; only inches apart from each other. He began to open his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as he felt himself get pushed into Rei, their lips making contact. Out of the corner of her eye, Rei saw both Akane and Asuka give each other a high five. It seemed that the two had orchestrated this to happen and now it was her turn; taking the initiative she wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him in closer to deepen the kiss ever more, this being her first kiss, she wanted to savor it. Shinji of course followed suite, something about the foot in his back told him to. Though no words were spoken about it.

After a small awkward silence, Rei spoke up again. "Are you sure it alright?" she inquired.

"Of course Wonder Girl, us Eva Pilots have to stick together." the second child exclaimed with a triumphant smile. This eased the firsts uncertainties. However this moment was short lived as Asukas cell phone rang. Answering it she was greeted with a very upset Misato on the other end.

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?" everyone in the circle could hear it, wincing some. Rei looked at her watch and felt a wave of coldness wash over her, they were late for the sync tests that were scheduled for today. The group had spent the entire afternoon under the tree.

"Mein Gott, the tests. "Asuka remembered, she then quickly thought up of an excuse. "We're on our way right now Misato."

"Forget it, Akagi had rescheduled the tests for tomorrow. Be sure to let Rei know." the major replied, this time in a more calm voice. "Don't forget." with that Misato hung up.

"Well I guess we should get home, I don't think we want to make our punishment even worse then it already is." Asuka commented as she closed her phone. Shinji still said nothing, still in shock that somehow he had three really cute girlfriends Asuka looked back and forth between Rei and Shinji, a grin coming across her face.

"Shinji, walk Rei home" she said, it wasn't a request. It was an order. "I'll cover for you." Not sticking around for him to argue both her and Akane walked away from the two, talking between each other. Somehow, Shinji got the idea of what Asuka was hinting at, but was still unsure. Looking to Rei he couldn't help but smile, the same smile she had come to adore before reaching out and taking her hand into his.


	4. Chapter 4

-1Lite Up 4:20 Edition

Chapter 4: The Mark

By: Midnight Lost

Disclaimer: I do not own, nor do I claim any ownership over Neon Genesis Evangelion or any of its characters. They are property of Gainax and other respected holders. However, Akane Sato is of my own creation.

Authors Notes: Well, now that the harem is nearly complete things are about to get interesting for our young pilots. Also in this chapter another character of mine will be introduced. For those of you who were curious, yes Akane is Bi; liking both boys and girls.

xXxXx

The two lay there panting, covered in sweat from there recent activity. Anyone could have imagined what had happened between the two. Each of their thoughts wandering into different areas. Shinji was thinking of what he was going to tell Misato as to why he was late and also how he would explain the marks on his body. Rei on the other hand was confused. All this was foreign to her, though she felt good about it. She had heard the other students talking about topics such as sex, but she never would of thought she would experience it. It was not in Gendos plan for her to take part in such activities. But she did, and she relished in it, enjoying Shinji's touch as he caressed her body. The moment they had become one nearly sent her over the top as she was plunged into a world full of ecstasy and pleasure. She snuggled closer to Shinji as the two caught their breaths, both of the heads still swimming with emotions. She frowned some as depressing thoughts began to enter her mind. Mainly that concerning what Gendo would do if he were to discover the twos relationship. She knew he would not approve of this, in fact she was dead certain that the moment he caught wind of it he would no doubt place the third child under arrest for some reason or another. Shinji however, noticed her change of mood.

"What's wrong Aya… Rei?" he asked, correcting himself from calling her by her last name, There was no doubt there were on more intimate terms now.

Her first response was to tell him nothing, but she could sense that he wouldn't believe that. Letting out a soft sigh she looked up at him, her crimson eyes gazing into his brown eyes. "its just that…. If the commander finds out." she broke off, burying her face into his chest as he held her close to him.

Shinji smiled down at her and leaned down, kissing the top of her head as she sobbed.

"I know he will not approve of our relationship." Rei continued "But now that I know what love is, I don't want to lose it."

"Rei," he began, combing his fingers through her short blue hair. "your not going to lose me" he reassured her.

"But the Commander will order me too…." she was cut off as Shinji placed a finger over her lips.

"My father has no right to tell you what you can or can't do with your personal life." he began. "One thing Akane has taught me is to make a stand for myself and not let anyone hold me back."

She looked up at him as he spoke. Her first response was to slap him for disrespecting the commander again, however she didn't. Instead she reached up and placed her hand along his cheek. His words did have a meaning of truth in them. As long as she piloted Eva, she saw no complications in having a relationship with the Third Child. Even if the commander disapproved of such actions. As she kissed him again she decided that she would not tell the Commander, or Akagi for that matter. This was something for her to have, and hers alone.

"You should go home Shinji" Rei smiled as she broke the kiss. "I am sure Asuka is running out of excuses to tell the Major."

Shinji sighed in response of this, but chuckled a little too. Even though she had killed the mood, he knew she was right. Reluctantly let her go and proceeded to get dressed. Finishing up he leaned over the bed again, giving her a final kiss good bye before leaving her apartment, leaving a smiling Rei lying in her bed.

The sun was already beginning to set as he walked down the streets of Tokyo 3. Cicadas could be heard as they echoed through the ally ways. Cars sped up and down the streets as people made the way home or too work as various work shifts ended and new ones began. Though he had a great time, he still wasn't sure what he was going to tell Misato as to why he was so late coming home. He positioned the strap from his bag so that it covered the base of his neck where Rei had bit him. The back of his shirt sticking to him from the scratches she had left. No doubt Rei had been the most aggressive of the three so far. He had expected that from Asuka rather then her soft coos. As for Akane, she was a little of both. Shinji was suddenly snapped out of his train of thought as he heard someone call his name. Turning around he saw Toji and Kensuke running towards him.

"Yo Shinji, wait up" Toji called again. The two of them catching up with the third child, stopping to take catch their breathes. While Toji was in good shape from all the sports he enjoyed, poor Kensuke looked like he was about to die. Shinji remained silent, remember how they had left during lunch time wasn't under the best of circumstances.

"What's up?" he finally asked as the other two began to breathe easier.

"Nothing, we just noticed you were leaving Ayanamis place. Something we should know about?" Toji began to tease.

"She needed help with an assignment, nothing too big of deal" he lied. Unless you counted Sex Ed as an assignment.

"Okay, we'll take your word for it for now." the jock replied before his face becoming more serious "but that aside, I wanted to ask you something."

"What's that?" Shinji asked as they three of them began walking again, the third child still holding the strap of his book bag so it covered his neck.

"Why Akane?"

"Why not?"

"Have you even listened to what has been said about her?" Toji began. "How she does drugs. She's disrespectful to the class rep and the teachers, and seeing the way she dresses I wouldn't be surprised if she's slept with at least twenty guys. Not to mention….." he was cut off by Shinji.

"She's the first person I have met in this town who can relate to my problems with my father." deciding to let the rest of what the jock was spouting off go in through one ear and out the other. He stopped walking and looked at the other two who remained silent.

"So that's it? Your going to chose that slut over your friends?" Toji asked, clearly disappointed and upset at Shinji.

"You know, to me; a real friend doesn't make me choose between friends." he finally replied, turning and walking off. He wasn't in the mood to continue with this line of discussion. "I'm going home, later"

It was another fifteen minutes before he arrived at his door. Already he could here Asuka and Misato arguing . No doubt it was about why he didn't come home right away. With his excuse ready he opened the door.

"I'm home" he called out, bracing for a barrage of yelling at him from Misato. However, her reaction was way different then he had expected.

"Welcome home Shinji," Misato smiled "How was helping Rei on her school assignment?"

Shinji gawked for a moment, giving Asuka a quick glance who was motion him to go along with it.

"I just had to help explain certain parts to her." he lied. Though it seemed that the sync training him and Asuka did a few months back were very beneficiary for moments like these. It was as if she had read his mind, or did he read hers?

"Great" Misato beamed another smile. It was obvious she had been drinking tonight as he could smell it coming off her. She only confirmed his suspicions by taking another big gulp from a can she was holding, finishing off what was left inside before chucking it to a trash can on the other side of the kitchen. Adding to the pile that was steadily building up there.

"Um Misato" Shinji began, "Akane was wondering if Asuka and I could spend the night at her place tonight." It was a long shot, but he wanted to try it. Misato gave him a very mischievous grin as the gears in her head began to spin, thinking of more ways to tease her young ward about wanting to spend the night and a girls house.

"Fine, just be back tomorrow after school." she waved them off, completely forgetting the two of them were grounded. Asuka and Shinji however wasted no times. Moving to their rooms and packing the next days change of cloths. Not wanting to give Misato a chance to change her mind they darted out the door and down the street, leaving their guardian alone with the penguin.

"Best two out of three?" Misato asked Pen Pen, who gave a squawk in reply. As Misato drew up another Tic Tac Toe display. Pen Pen had already won the first game.

xXxXx

"I can't believe Misato just let us go." Asuka commented as she walked next to Shinji. The two of them walking briskly towards the direction of town Akane lived in, trying to put as much distance between them and the apartment as they could in the shortest amount of time.

"Yeah, I decided to try it, seeing Misato was drunk and obviously forgot about us being grounded." he smirked.

The two remained silent for the most part during the rest of the trip there. Except when Asuka called Akane, informing her that they were coming over. Akane was excited about it, and asked if they could pick up Rei along the way. They quickly reached Reis house, letting her know that they were heading over to Akanes and insisted that she come along to. Of course, after the experiences she felt today, Rei couldn't declined. For the first time in her life she felt like she had more then just a solemn purpose to the Commander. Gathering what items she would require the next day, the blue haired girl joined her fellow pilots to continue over to their friends.

Friend….. A word that at first was obscure to her, the commander having saw fit to severe any other interaction with people that was not necessary. Though it struck her to be strange, a friend didn't serve much of a purpose outside of someone to talk to or just be around, but it was nice to have someone outside of Nerv she could call….friend. Rei smiled at this.

It didn't take the trio long to get to Akanes apartment, being right down the block from where Rei lived. Reaching the door, Shinji simply opened it and walked in, Asuka following behind him along with Rei.

"Akane?" he called out, letting her know that they had arrived.

"I'll be out in a minute" Akanes soft voice drifted through the apartment, from what seemed to be the kitchen area. "You guys want anything to drink?"

"Sure."

About a minute later, Akane emerged from the back, holding four brown bottles, handing each one to her guest. Both Asuka and Shinji knew exactly what it was, Rei however was rather curious about the content that the bottle held. Having only drank water, as anything else was deemed unnecessary. By now, she was beginning to develop a little bit of disdain for the commander for not allowing her to experience such pleasures. Opening the bottle, she took a cautious drink from it and made a weird face. The others saw this and gave a small laugh.

"Don't worry Rei, you'll get used to the taste" Akane offered. Rei nodded and took another drink, she noted that after the first drink, the second didn't hold as bad as taste. This further confirmed what Akane had told her.

The four teens, idly chatted with each other as the continued to drink. Becoming more and more intoxicated as they did so as the bottles began to add up along the floor. Both Shinji and Rei were completely smashed, having never drank before nor did they have a sufficient tolerance built up like Asuka and Akane did. Asuka had gained some sort of tolerance while she attended college, and of course Akane had built up a natural tolerance from her chosen lifestyle. As more hours ticked by, slowly each of them began to drift off to sleep.

It was well into the next morning before any of them had awoke. Stirring around groggily, Rei could hear the birds outside, the sounds of cars in the distant heading to and from work. Forgetting for a split second where she was she looked up in panic, only to see Shinji lying next to her, with Asuka on the other side, and Akane sprawled out on the couch. As she moved to sit up some more, she stopped as she felt a sudden pain in her head.

'_This must be what they call a hang over' _she bitterly thought to herself as she remembered partaking in drinking last night. Rubbing her temples , trying to ease the pain a little. Something felt odd to her though, it wasn't that she had slept next to Shinji, or that she was in Akanes apartment. It was a sense that she had missed something, that she was late. It took her a few more moments before she looked at the clock and saw that they had slept nearly till noon. At this time the others had begun to woke up as well. Though, Rei could see that the other three were not as upset about waking up so late.

"We missed school" Asuka stated,. Almost calmly. Rei knew they could still make it to the second half of the school day, though however she felt no desire to, and from what she saw; neither did the others. It didn't matter anyway to her, anything the teacher said about Second Impact was a lie anyways cooked up by Seele; she knew this well.

"Well, seeing school is out of the question what should we do today?" Shinji asked, looking at the three girls. Akane was the first to speak up.

"I was going to see an old friend of mine, your all welcome to come. I am sure she would love to meet all of you." she smiled. "And besides, there is something I promised her I would do today."

"Sounds like a plan" Asuka commented as she stood up and stretched to get the sleepiness out of her. At this time, both Asuka and Shinji rummaged through their packs to get their change of cloths. While they did this, Rei observed in silence, though while she had no desire to attain school today, she was still worried about her fellow pilots. She knew that when Misato found out, she would no doubt punish them….again. Though she noted that the two didn't seem concerned about it. She then turned her thoughts onto Section 2, no doubt they would be following them all day. She knew how to avoid them, but she didn't know how well her fellow pilots could.

It didn't take too long for the four to set out. Rei took the initiative and led the small group through some various twist and turns through the streets. Both Shinji and Asuka knew what she was doing, Akane was a little puzzled at first but after remembering what happened the other day, she realized that the blue haired girl was guiding them to lose the men in black suites. After nearly a half hour of going well out of their way, Rei let Akane take over to lead them to where she intended to go, satisfied that she had lost Section 2. It would take the rest of the day for them to relocate the children, she had tested that once. It seemed that once they lost track of the pilots they would not begin their watch until the children had returned home, unless it was a matter of extreme importance, much like when Shinji went missing for three days.

Now with Akane in the lead, they made their way into the back streets of down town. Neither one of the pilots had been into this part of town before, but Akane seemed very familiar with it. Finally they reached a small, run down building with various neon signs in the window. One of which read 'Open'. Stepping up to the door, she pushed it open and walked in, gesturing the others to follow her. The others hesitated for a split second before following her in, unsure of what they were going to find inside. Entering the store, they saw the walls covered with various pictures. Some were cute while others were of naked women, and even some of dragons and the likes. Off to the side there was a lone chair, with a tray next to it. The chair itself looked like what one would see in a dentist, however the items on the tray where not for teeth, that was for sure.

"You here Kate?" Akane called out, she received her answer a few seconds later as a tall, slender woman came through a curtain of beads from the back. She appeared to be at least five to seven years older then they were. Dressed in a similar fashion as Akane with a pair of tight fitting black jeans, and a black belly shirt, which exposed her pierced belly button. Her hair was black and wavy, flowing back down passed her shoulders. The thing that stood out most about her, was her eerie blue eyes, which almost seemed to glow in the dark.

"I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up today lil sis." the taller woman laughed.

"Sis?" Asuka asked, as far as she knew Akane had no surviving family members, other then her dead beat father.

"Yes, Kate is my adopted big sister." Akane replied "She helped take care of me when I was younger. And she was the one who got my father to at least send me money so that I could take care of myself."

"And who are your friends Akane?" Kate asked, as she let her blue eyes fall on the three pilots.

"Oh right, of course. This is Shinji, Asuka, and Rei." she introduced the three behind her.

Kate looked them over again, and then back at Akane and smiled. "More then just friends I take it."

This caused Akane to blush a lot, Shinji couldn't help but let out a small laugh. He had never seen Akane get this flustered. This earned him a quick glare from her, prompting him to clamp his mouth shut and hold in any remaining laughter.

"And what makes you so sure we are more then friends?" Akane challenged her older sister.

Kate smiled and sniffed around in the air, gaining curious looks from Rei and Asuka; thinking the older woman had gone crazy or something. "You smell that?" she asked, as she sniffed the air once again. "That's the smell of love in the air."

This only caused Akane to blush more, as her older sister continued to tease her about her young love.

"So you going to finally get it done?" Kate finally asked.

"Yeah, I want to get that one on the back of my neck" she said pointing at a small picture on the wall. The picture was of a moon with two crescent moons on both sides of it, the Lunar Triple Goddess. A well known Wiccan symbol.

"Alright, get in the chair. I am sure you know what to do." Kate instructed before she turned back to the others while Akane positioned herself in the chair. "This will take a few minutes, feel free to browse around."

With that, Kate moved to Akane side and began dabbing the back of her neck with alcohol to clean away anything that may have been there. While the other three browsed around, looking at the various images on the wall, Kate started talking to Akane, nothing really important; most just seemed like random topics that Kate had thought up. Much like why she chose that kind of tattoo, what kind of boy Shinji was, how well did she get along with Asuka and Rei and so forth. All the while setting to work on her tattoo. During this time though, the three pilots decided to get a tattoo as well; each having enough cash on them to pay. Shinji offered to pay for Reis as he knew Gendo did not give her any more money then he deemed necessary to give her. Of course Asuka refused to simply accept this and demanded that she pay half as well, not letting Shinji take all of the tab.

"So when are you going to start my tattoo?" Akane asked, she had been talking to Kate for the passed half hour. "You've been cleaning the back of my neck for at least half an hour. I know it cant be that dirty."

"Its done." she smiled as she finished applying a bandage on the back of her neck.

"Wait, its done already?" Akane asked, gently placing her hand on the back of her neck. "But I didn't feel anything at all."

"Crazy how that works, ain't it?" she smiled, standing up she approached the other three. "By the sound of it, I take it you three decided to get one as well."

"Yes, we have." Rei answered as a matter of fact like.

"Alright;" she scanned the three in front of her for a moment. "You will be first." she said as she pointed at Shinji.

"Why me?" he asked as he was guided over to the chair.

"Because you look most likely to lose your nerve once you see the others get theirs." she replied. "Now, which one did you want and where?"

"Um, D69" Shinji replied, telling her the image number. "and on my upper right arm."

Kate looked up at the wall to the image number he had requested and nodded, lifting up his shirt sleeve so she could clean the area for the tattoo. "The dragon, very fitting." she smiled.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, a little confused. He had chose it because it looked cool.

"If you look past the standard dragon mythology, some civilizations revered the dragon as a protector, rather then a threat. You defend this city, therefore you are the dragon of Tokyo 3." she replied, setting to work. For the most part Shinji kept his head turned away from her, having a slight fear of needles while he waited for her to actually start, while she kept talking to him. Much like Akane, their conversation was random.

"Ok, your done." Kate informed him after he had been sitting in the chair for a little over forty five minutes. Shinji looked at her with a hint of disbelief and then to the bandage on his arm, before getting out of the chair and rejoining Akane and Rei. Asuka had already set to be next in line to get hers done. Kate repeated the same process for Asuka, and Rei. Talking to them about various things as she did her work. This proved a little hard to do with Rei for a few reasons. First being that Rei hardly talked to anyone outside of Nerv or School. The second was that Rei had already caught on to what Kate was doing and the purpose for the random conversations, and that was to keep their mind away from what she was doing;; this gave the illusion that she was done before they even noticed she had started. Another thing she noticed is how Kate made a connection with each of their tattoos and their own personality, how Asuka was like the tiger; fierce and intelligent. Rei was much like the dolphin that she had got on her right thigh, calm and serene. Though she liked what she had said about Shinji, being the dragon of Tokyo 3, its defender. She smiled as it did seem to fit him almost perfectly.

"Now, remember to keep the bandages on for at least one whole day to allow the ink to set in." Kate instructed them. "If you will excuse I have to usher you out as I have a date tonight" she smiled.

"Don't chase her off like you did the last one' Akane teased her.

"I did not chase her off." Kate defended herself. "She just wasn't my type"

Akane giggled as she saw the skeptical looks on Reis face. "Kate likes other women." she explained. Rei simply nodded to this, women liking other women was a completely new concept for her. Though she had wondered about Maya and Akagi. The group said there good byes as Kate ushered them out of the door, handing Akane a small paper bag as she left.

"Lets head back to my place." Akane said.

As they walked to Akanes apartment, both Rei and Asuka got a call from Misato informing them that the syncs tests that were scheduled today was pushed back till tomorrow due to problems with the equipment. The three pilots chuckled softly as they heard Akagi ranting in the background, obviously not happy with how things were turning out. After another half hour of walking they reached Akanes apartment, each taking their place around the living room. All the furniture was pushed close together. It was no surprise what was in the paper bag as Akane produced a pipe and a lighter. She proceeded to fire it up and take a puff, passing it to Asuka on her right who copied the same action. Each taking their turn until the bowl was empty. By now they were simply goofing around. It was at this time that Asuka noticed the bite mark on Shinjis neck.

"Shinji how did you get that?" she asked, pointing towards his neck.

It took him a minute to realize what she was talking about and blushed furiously. "Um…that is….well when Rei and I…." he didn't get to finish.

"Rei, you bit him!?" she exclaimed, laughing a little. The sudden attention made the first child blush just as badly as Shinji. "And here I thought you were the docile type."

"You know that they say," Akane put in. "its always the quiet ones that turn into an animal in the bedroom"

This only caused the group to laugh louder, then quieted down as the three girls looked at Shinji; causing him to flinch under there stares. Each having the same idea in mind. Shinji gulped as he realized what they were planning. It was Rei who pinned him down first in a passionate kiss as she was the closest to him, the others soon joined in and proceeded to strip him of his clothing as well as their own.

After nearly four hours later, they had finally stopped. Each breathing hard but satisfied. Shinji sighed some as he looked at the time. It was nearly seven in the evening and he knew he and Asuka would have to get back home real soon, and he highly doubted Misato would let them stay another night. No words needed to be said as both Akane and Rei both well understood. Slowly they began to get dressed, Shinji sighed again as he now had two bite marks on his neck, at least they were on the same side; one just a little lower then the first. This made it easier for him to hide because he knew if Misato ever saw it he would never hear the end of it and he could only guess that she would think Asuka did it. Finishing getting dressed, Shinji and Asuka said their good byes as they grabbed their book bags and started their walk home. Rei had decided to stay with Akane for the night so they could have what Akane called "girl talk".

Asuka and Shinji were lucky when they got home, finding that Misato had left them a note stating that she had gone out with Kaji and that she would not be home till possibly early in the morning. Asuka grinned at this, even though she had already had her fun with Shinji with the others, she had never got to have him all by herself yet and she wasn't going to let this chance pass her by. She waited for him to set his bag down before she grabbed hold of his shirt and pulled him into her, catching his lips with her own. As she did this she proceeded to walk backwards, pulling him into the bathroom with her; shutting and locking the door behind them leaving behind a very confused penguin. Another half hour passed before they got out of the shower, at least that's what Asuka called it. By now Shinji was so tired, he didn't even bother changing into his pajamas as he crawled into bed with just his boxers on. No sooner had he crawled into bed he fell asleep, after the recent activities he was passed exhausted. Asuka was feeling the same way as she crawled into her own bed, though both had a feeling that with their new art work on their bodies, things were going to be very interesting at school tomorrow.

Additional Notes: Well, there is Chapter 4, a major difference in this chapter from the other is I decided to make Kate a lesbian as well as change the tattoos each of the pilots get. Eventually I will get around to writing a series of short lemons for a lot of the erotic scenes I leave out for all you pervs out there lol. Those of you who are familiar with the original version know who is joining Nerv in the next chapter!


End file.
